There's a newly renovated Cape style house on Cross Point Road in Edgecomb that makes one want to stop and admire. It is a classic, tastefully appointed house that catches the eye because of its simple, stylish beauty.

Jeff Koopus and his wife Sarah bought the property in 2008 after moving back to Maine from Rochester, New York, where they had spent almost 20 years.

Koopus, who moved from Massachusetts to Maine when he was 17, said his hope was always to come back. “We moved to Rochester to take care of my wife's mother, thinking we'd be there a couple years, but that's the way life goes.”

Before beginning renovations to the house, Koopus started building a shop. A cabinet and chair maker since 1978, he makes furniture, much of it inspired by 18th century and Shaker designs.

Koopus said that before getting into furniture and cabinet making, he planned to be a writer. He attended a university in Canada to study journalism and was working toward a master’s degree when he quit school and moved to Harrison, Maine.

In 1975 Koopus and his wife built a house in Harrison, and Koopus worked in Bridgton for furniture builder Brian Haddock, now owner of Furnitura in Portland. “I worked for him for a couple years, then went on my own in Harrison, where I built a shop and started making Windsor chairs and tables,” he said.

In 1990 the couple moved to Rochester, where he started another furniture business.

Koopus said he is in his shop seven days a week. “I love doing it. It's one of those things — you have to really love what you do. And I do. I'm happiest when I'm in here.”

He said that spending so much time alone in his shop is like being in a vacuum, and sometimes he gets a feeling that what he's doing isn't good enough. “You don't get a lot of feedback until you deliver a piece.”

Koopus has worked with a business partner and a crew, but found it stressful. “I spent less time in the shop and more time out hustling work and making sure everybody was busy and got paid. I did that for almost five years, and one day I just walked out. I like doing my own thing.”

Most of Koopus' furniture is done on a commission basis. His workshop is full of pieces in the process of being finished. There are several chairs, and four stools that are being made for a house in Pemaquid that he built the kitchen for last year.

There is a birdseye maple desk in the works, part of an ongoing commission for a house in Cape Cod that is a veritable museum of Koopus' work. He has made more than 40 pieces for the owner. “I have built every piece of furniture in the house. It’s been going on for 16 or 17 years,” he said.

“The owner is an interesting guy. He supplies the wood. All this birdseye maple is from him. He travels all over the northeast looking for wide pieces of 'figured' wood. Everything I've built for him is in figured wood.”

Koopus said things are changing when it comes to furniture. “Twenty years ago people were really into 18th century pieces. Now younger people are into the point and click kind of thing. Commissioning and waiting for six months for a piece has slowed down. The trend is toward simpler, Shaker-style pieces.

“Ikea has changed the way people think about furniture.”

Koopus signs his work, but said he didn't always. “I didn't for a long time because I'm a great admirer of Eliphalet Chapin from 18th century Connecticut. He was quite a character, and he never signed a single piece of furniture.”

Nick, Koopus' youngest son, is talking about coming to work for him soon.

“When my sons were young they used to come into the shop a lot, but it was a hard thing for me to encourage them to get into,” he said. “It's a very difficult way to make a living. You have to work all the time. It's not a job. It is simply part of your life.”

His older son, Ryland, is a software developer in Buffalo, and his daughter, Jane Milliman, is a writer/editor in Rochester New York, where she publishes a magazine called the Upstate Gardeners' Journal, and she is editor of (585) magazine.

Koopus said he'll wait to see what happens with Nick.

In the meantime he'll be spending most of his time alone in his shop doing what he loves — making furniture.

For more information, visit Koopus' website, which is in the process of updating, or call 207-687-2108.